Tuesday, September 21, 2010

So, you may have seen or heard the drama being fueled by Delaware Senate candidate, Christine O'Donnell's admission that she "dabbled" in Witchcraft in High School. If you have heard nothing of the aforementioned, I've included the video for your viewing pleasure.

Now, for those of us who do more than just "dabble", it's blatantly obvious that whatever Christine was doing was not Witchcraft.

"To Know"

That said however, her admission has spawned a barrage of articles, interviews and commentary by everyone who has an opinion on the same, including the Wiccan community. And can you blame them? Quite frankly, our beliefs come under scrutiny so often and we are interviewed so infrequently, that we are often at the mercy of whomever it is willing to speak for us. If someone claiming to be a Witch or Wiccan makes an outlandish statement that portrays us in an unfavorable light, it reflects negatively upon us all.

Yesterday, AOL featured an interview with a young woman claiming to be a Witch, who was raising her son as the same. Personally, I know many people that are raising their children as Pagans, so for me, this was not exactly newsworthy. For the most part, her interview was a positive one, with the exception of her admission that her son was "ritually" conceived. Now, if any newlywed couple were to admit that their child was conceived when they made love on a public beach while on their honeymoon, the most you might hear is, "oh those crazy kids!" If you're a Wiccan however, and mention that your child was conceived during a ritual? Oh. Holy. Fuck! Oh yes, I went there!

Now, if you were to "give it a Google" and search the sexual practices of Wiccans, I'm certain you can find something about sex magick being performed during ritual. However, if this is performed at all, it's usually between a married or partnered couple in a private setting. What is more common is something referred to as the "Great Rite". It's the sacred marriage of the God and Goddess and it's performed symbolically. It involves plunging a sharp, pointy ceremonial knife into a cup of consecrated beverage of choice, most often wine, juice or water. The athame (see sharp, pointy knife) represents the God, the cup, represents the Goddess.

Isaac Bonewit's once said, "Everybody talks about the Great Rite, but no one ever does anything about it." We miss you, Isaac!

"To Will"

Christine O'Donnell went on to explain her babbling....I mean, dabbling:

"I was in high school, how many of you didn't hang out with questionable folks in high school? But no, there's been no witchcraft since," she said, shrugging off her dalliances with the dark arts.

"Now let’s put that to rest and move on to what we’re going to do," she said.

I was raised Catholic. Given all the accusations of child molestation and cover ups surrounding the Catholic Church, one might say that I hung out with questionable folks too! Talk about dalliances with the dark arts! But....I digress.

Can we really blame Christine O'Donnell? Actually, perhaps we should be thanking her. You see, there are about 3 million of us in the United States that practice Wicca, who don't consider ourselves "questionable folks" and now, we have the opportunity to engage in a little education. We have careers, own homes, support our families and are active, productive members of society and of our communities. No, we don't engage in blood sacrifices. No cannibalism. No Satanism. And while I can't obviously speak for all Wiccans, no ritual child conception. If we were, in fact, "questionable folks", I suspect we would be interrogated, I mean, interviewed, a lot more often.

No, in fact, you really don't hear much about us at all. Unless of course someone opens their mouth and puts their foot in it. In this case, I believe both the Witch and Ms. O'Donnell are on equal "footing".

Merry Meet!

I am a witchcraft practicing, conjure working, Full Moon worshipping daughter of the Arts.
I have been interested in Witchery for as long as I can remember. As a child, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was, "a Witch." The musing of a child?
I have been practicing for about 20 years, give or take a year and a day. I am a 2* Initiate in British Tradition Gardnerian Wicca.
We teach a training group in Gardnerian Wicca and can be found on Witchvox is "Circle of the Ancient Ways".
I am also a Okuden level, Jikiden Reiki practitioner, a Reiki Master/Teacher in Usui System of Natural Healing. I have had training as an End of Life doula.
In the mundane World, I am a Surgical Coordinator, wife and mother.